Complaints

We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.

In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case, Sarah Forster, to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

Sarah Forster’s contact details are:

Email: sarah@forsterdowling.co.uk

Tel: 07894 069322 (Mob)

Post: Forster Dowling Ltd, 16 Powys Close, Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan, CF64 4LQ

What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

If we are unable to resolve your complaint, then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.

The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them. The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are as follows:

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Call: 0300 555 0333 between 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

If your complaint relates to a contract we entered into online or by other electronic means, and we are unable to resolve it, then, if you are a consumer you may be able to submit your complaint to a certified alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider in the UK. Please see here for access to the online dispute resolution (ODR) platform.

What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the SRA at: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page

Complaints Handling Procedure

Our Complaints Policy

If at any point you become unhappy with the service we provide to you, please inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you. Our complaints procedure is below.

Our Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint write to Sarah Forster, our solicitor and director, with the details at: Forster Dowling Limited, 16 Powys Close, Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan, CF64 4LQ or by email to: sarah@forsterdowling.co.uk.

How will you deal with my complaint?

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 2 days and send you a copy of this complaints policy.
We will let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint. This will normally be Sarah Forster but she reserves the right to ask a third party to deal with the complaint.
We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve: reviewing the relevant file and other relevant documents, speaking with the solicitor who acted for you and to anyone else who may be relevant. You may be asked for more details during the course of the investigation. The investigation may take up to 7 days from the date on which the nominated person has been allocated the complaint.
We may invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. This invitation will be sent to you within 2 days of the investigation in step 3 coming to an end. Within 2 days of any meeting we will write to you confirming what took place and any solutions that have been agreed with you.
If you do not want a meeting or a meeting is not possible we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint. This will include any suggestions for resolving the matter. This will be done within 7 days of completing the investigation.
At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, let us know in writing and we will arrange to review our decision. We will ask another local firm of solicitors to review your complaint. We will do this within 5 days of you writing to us requesting a review. We will let you know how long the review process is likely to take.
We will let you know the result of the review within 5 days of the end of the review. At this stage we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining the reasons for our position. We will remind you of the services of the Legal Ombudsman.
If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
You will not incur any charges for using this procedure and making a complaint will not affect the work we do for you.
We will endeavour to make reasonable adjustments to this procedure if you require us to do so on the grounds of a disability or where English is not your first language.